Fluid control valve



w. A. RAY

FLUID CONTROL VALVE Aug. 17, 1948.

2 Sheet's-Sheet l Original Filed Nov. 6, 1940 n nventor; WILLIAM A. RAY, 2f

(Ittorueg Aug. 17, `1948. w. A. RAY' ,FLUID CONTROL VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Nov. 6, 1940 mzo ESG l Vlhwentor:

WILLIAM A. RAY,

Gttorneg Patented Aug. '17, 1948 FLUm coNIaoL VALVE William A. Ray, Los Angeles, Calif., assigner to l General Controls Co., a corporation Original application November 6, 1940, Serial No.

364,524, now Patent No. 2,346,704, dated April 18, 1944. Divided and this application April 11 1944, Serial No. 530,532.

6 Claims. (Cl. 137-144) 6, 1940, now Patent Number 2,346,704, granted April 18, 1944.

A main'object of the invention is `to provide means, operated by or during the rotation of the plug, for resetting the safety closure to its open position.

Another object is to so arrange the resetting means that it is operable only while the plug is in flow-obstructing condition.

Another object is to arrange the resettingy means entirely within the valve structure so that it is impossible for a careless person to tamper with the resetting means or to so lock it that the safety closure is maintained in open position regardless of the condition of the electromagnet or other safety device.

Another object is to arrange the plug, the plug operating means, the resetting means, and the safety closure all in coaxial relation so as to form a compact elongated structure which is simple and economical to manufacture.

Otler objects and advantages of the invention will be found lin the descriptiomthe drawing,'and the claims; and, for full understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a. valve structure embodying the invention;

Figures 2 and 3 aretransverse sections taken, respectively, along the lines 2-2 and 2-3 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Figures 5 and 6 are graphs illustrating the operation of the valve shown in the other figures.

In the drawing, the numeral indicates a valve casing wherein is rotatably seated a hollow tapered plug 8| which controls fluid ow from the space or chamber 82 below it to anL outlet 83; the uid passing through the cavity 84 of the plug and a lateral opening 06 registering with the outlet 83 when theplug is in open position.

The reduced cylindrical upper portion 86 of the plug extends, through a bore in the upper portion of the casing and is concentrically bored to receive a rod 01 which has a flanged lower end cooperable, when the rod is in elevated position, with the surface surrounding the bottom of this bore to prevent leakage of fluid therethrough.

Secured to the open bottom end of'the casing 80 is a safety-valve casing 88 having an inlet 09 and an outlet 90 separated by a ported partition 9| providing an annular valve seat 92." Cooperable with this seat is a closure 93 comprising a disk 94 of resilient material, suchfy'as artificial rubben backed by a metal washer 65, a spacing. fdisk 96, and a kdisk or armaturev 91 of magnetic material; these parts being held together by a ythreaded stem 98. The closure is guided by a flexible diaphragm 99, interposed between the disk 96 and the armature, which covers an opening in the bottom kwall of the casing 88v and is secured thereto` at its margin by the flange of a housing |00. Mounted on the bottom wall of this housing is an electromagnet 10| comprising a' U-shaped core |02 and an energizing coil l,|03 therefor which surrounds a portion of one of the arms of the core., The leads |04 of the coil are connected tothe inner ends of terminals |05 which insulatingly extend through the housing wall. 'I'he electromagnet, when energized, is Aadapted to magnetically hold the armature 91, against a force urging it away, only when it is first mechanically brought into engagement with the pole faces of core |02 by means hereinafter described; the electromagnet is not adapted to attract the armature through space.

Mounted at its margin in an annular recess formed in the upper surface of casing 88 adjoining casing 80 is a plate |06 having openings |01 through which fluid can pass from the safety valve outlet 90 to the plug valve chamber 82 and cavity 84. Compressed between this plate and a shoulder formed by a lower enlargement of the cavity 84, is a spring |08 which urges the plug against its tapered seat. Extending through a central opening in plate |06 `is a rod |09 having a reduced 'upper end portion ||0 which is received inthe shallow bore formed in the bottom end of rod 81, a ball being interposed between the rods to minimize friction due to relative rotation of the rods. Compressed between the plate |06 and an enlarged upper portion ||2 of rod |09 is a relatively still spring H3 which urges the rods |09 and 91 upwardly. Connected to a lower portion of rod |09 below the plate |06 and to the stem. 96 of thesafety-valve closure 931s a contractile spring ||4 which urges the closure upwardly into engagement with its seat. 'Ihe force exerted by spring II4, in all positions of the closure. is less than that of spring II3, so that upward movement of rod |09 is not materially impeded b y this spring. The general structure of the safety valve described above is disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 2,299,654, granted to me October 20, 1942.

Rotatable on a reduced cylindrical upper portion I| of the plug-valve casing 30 is a tubular member IIB which, toward its lower end, is -pro- .vided with a circumferentially depressed portion ||1 which serves as a division between an upper and a lower row of balls ||3 and ||9, respectively, which revolve in a ball race circumferentially formed in the portion ||5; the balls which form the upper row being introduced, in assembly, through a lateral opening in member |I5 which is normally closed by a plug |20 carried by a flexible arm |2| secured to the member. By this arrangement, the member 5 is freely rotatable but is restrained from longitudinal movement.

Guided on a pair of pins |22, threaded in the vtop part of the portion ||5, is a disk or head |23, from the upper surface of which extends a pair of integrally formed cams |24. 'I'he head |23 is provided in its underside with a shallow concentric bore for the reception of rod 81, a short stiff spring |25 being interposed between the rod and the head. The head is urged upwardly by springs |25 on the pins |22, so that its upper surface is normally in engagement with a pair of rollers |21 which are rotatably mounted on a pin |28 which extends through openings in the wall o! member I|5 and that of a cup-shaped member |29 which surrounds the upper end of member III. To the cup-shaped member |29 is secured a similar, but smaller, member |30 which has an opening through its upper wall which conforms to and receives the squared end of a shaft I3I, which shaft is provided with a handle |32 for manual operation of the valves. The cylindrical upper end portion 85 of the valve plug is cut away to provide a portion |33 (Fig. 3) having parallel sides. A member |34, having a central opening conforming to the cross-sectional shapev of this portion, is mounted thereon; the opposide arms of this member extending into elongated openings |35 formed in the wall of the tubular member I I6. The surface of the upper end portion |I5 of the plug-valve casing is recessed at |30 (Fig. 3) between the portions |31 in which the pins |22 are mounted, to provide a space wherein the member |34 is rotatable through an angle of approximately 90, its movement in either direction being limited by the engagement of its arms with the portions |31.

The operation of the device shown in Figs. l-4 will now be described; it being assumedl that the inlet 39 of the safety valve is connected to a source of fuel gas: that the outlet 03 of the plug valve is connected to a main burner; that the chamber 32 is connected to a pilot burner for the main burner, by means of a fitting |44 threaded in an opening |45 in the side of casing 30 communicating with this chamber; and that the terminals |05 of the electromagnet are connected to a thermoelectric generating device adapted to be heated by the flame of the pilot burner. With the parts in the positions shown, the plug valve is open but the safety valve is closed, and accordingly the gas cannot ow to the main burner or to the pilot burner. Such condition of the parts 4 would be the result of accidental extinguishment of the pilot burner name while the burner system was in operation, as will be explained hereinafter.

To reset the safety valve to reinitlate operation of the burner control system, the handle |32 (and therewith the cap formed lby the members |29 and H0) is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed from above, the resulting sequenceof events being graphically shown in Fig. 5. The cylindrical member IIB rotates freely until the edges |45 of the openings |35 therein engage the arms of the member |34, this point being indicated in the graph by the legend Lost motion taken up. in the continued movement of the member IIB, the member |34 is rotated thereby; which member, by its connection with the stem of plug 9|, rotates the same toward closed position. When the plug has been rotated through approximately 45, its opening 35 is completely closed, as indicated in the graph. A few degrees beyond this point. the rollers |21 engage the lower portions of the cams |24 with the result that, upon continued rotation, the head |23 is forced downwardly, guided and restrained from rotation by the pins |22, carrying with it the rods 81 and |09. When the rod |09 is moved through a distance slightly greater than the space between its lower end and the upper end of the safety-closure stem 98, the safety valve opens, as indicated in the graph. Gas can now flow from the inlet 89 to the pilot burner through the safety-valve outlet 90. chamber 02 and opening |45. Continued downward movement of the head |23, as the rollers ride on the cams, finally effects engagement of the armature 91 with the pole faces of the electromagnet 'core |02, as indicated at the end of the graph; the short stiff spring |25 at the upper end of rod 91 preventing undue pressure on the core. Further movement of the parts is arrested by engagement of the arms of member |34 with the top portions |31 of the plug-vale casing. It will be noted that the plug 8| is still in closed condition.

After lighting the pilot burner, the operating handle is manually retained in the position wherein the armature is in engagement with the electromagnet core until the thermoelectric generating device has been sufficiently heated by the pilot burner flame to generate current in such amount as to energize the core to magnetically hold the armature in engagement therewith. The handle may then be released, the rods 31 and |09 moving upwardly under the force of spring I 33 and causing backward rotation of member ||5 (and of the handle); the rollers riding down the cams until they rest on the surface of the cam head, when farther movement of the rods is arrested. In the upward movement of rod |09, the spring I|4 connecting the closure 93 to this rod is stretched. exerting a substantial Y force acting to close the safety valve in the event of deenergization of the electromagnet resulting from failure of the pilot burner flame. As has been mentioned above, the force of spring II4, even in its stretched condition, is less than that of spring ||3 so that upward movement of rods l ment with the portions I" oi' casing 80. Gas can now ilow to the main burner where it is ignited by the pilot burner flame. In normal operation. the handle is rotated in either direction to control the main burner. If the pilot burner flame is extinguished, the safety valve closes and supply of gas to both the pilot and the main burner is obstructed. regardless of the condition of the plug valve.

'I'he embodiment of my invention herein shown n and described is obviously susceptible of modiilcation without departing from the spirit of the invention. and I intend therefore to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

' I claim as my invention: 5

1. In a valve structure, in combination: an elongated body; a plug seated in one end portion of said body and rotatable on the general axis' of the body to normally control flow through said structure; a safety valve closure reciprocable generally along the axis of said plugin the opposite end portion of the body andeiective, when seated, to obstruct flow through the structure; means for temporarily maintaining said safety closure in open position; an elongated member sealingly reciprocable in an axial opening through said plug, one end of the member extending exteriorly of the body at said one end thereof and there being provided with a head, the other end of the member being operatively engageable with the safety closure; a cap rotatably mounted on said one end of the bod and having a connection for rotating said plug. said connection permitting limited rotation of the lcap with respect to the plug; and cam means cooperating with said head and said cap whereby, when the cap is rotated while the plug is in flow-obstructing condition, said member is operated to eifect movement of Athe safety closure to said open position.

2. In a valve structure. in combination: an elongated body; a plug seated in one end portion of said body and rotatable on the general axis of the body to normally control flow through said structure; a safety valve closure reciprocable generally along the axis of said plug in the opposite end portion of the body and eiective, when seated. to obstruct flow through the structure; means for temporarily maintaining said safety y sarety closure in. open position:- an elongated closure in open position; an elongated member sealingly reciprocable in an axial opening through said P1118. one end of the member extending exteriorly of the body at said one end thereof' and there being provided with a head, the other end of the member being operatively engageable with the safety closure; a cap rotatably mounted on said one end of the body and having a connection for rotating said plug: means for preventing rotation of said head relative to the body; means on cap engageable with said cam when the cap is rotated, and while said plug is in flow-obstructing axis of the body to normally control flowv member sealingly reciprocable in an axial ing through said plug. one end of the .m

tending outwardly beyond said extended porti of the plug and being there provided with a head the other end of the member being operatively engageable with the safety closure: a cap rotatably mounted yon said one. end of the body:

means cooperating with said cap andaid extended portion of the plug whereby rotation of the cap effects rotation of the plug, said lestnamed means including means permitting rotation of the cap with respect to the plug through a limited arc; means for preventing rotation of said head with respect, to the body: means on said head forming a cam; and means within said cap and engageable with said cam when the cap is rotated, and while said plug is in flowobstructing condition, for so operating said member as to enect movement of the vsafe closure to said open position. A

v4r. In a valvestructure, in combination: an elongated-body; a plug seated in one end portion of said body and rotatable on the general axis of the body to normally control now through said structure, said plug having a portion' extending exteriorly of the body at said one end thereof; a safety valve closure reciprocable generally along the axis of said plug in the opposite end portion of the body and eifective. when' seated, to obstruct flow through the structure: means for temporarily maintaining' said safety closure in open position; an elongated member sealingly reciprocable in an axial opening through said plug, one end of the member extending outwardly beyond said extended portion of the plug and being there provided with a head. the other end of the member'being operatively engageable with the safety closure: an arm, secured to said extended portion of the plug and projecting radially therefrom; a cup-shaped cap rotatably mountedv on said one end of the body v and having an opening in its side wall through which said arm projects so that rotation of the cap can enect rotation of the plug, said cap- Y opening being elongated to permit limited rotation of; the cap with respect to the arm and plug; means for preventing rotation of said head with respect to the body; means on said head forming a cam; and means within said cap and engageable .with said cam when the cap is rosaid head forming a cam; and means within said tated.' and while saidplug is in ilow-obstructing condition. for so operating said member as to enect movement of the safety closure to said open position.

5. In a valve structure, in combination: an elongated body: a plug seated in one end portion of said body and rotatable on the general axis of the body to normally control ilow through said structure, said plug having a portion extending exteriorly of the body at said one end thereof; a safety valve closure reciprocable generally along the axis of said plug in the opposite end portion ofthe body and effective, when seated. to obstruct flow through the structure: means for temporarily maintaining said safety closure in open position; an elongated member sealingly reciprocable in an axial opening through said plug, one end of the member extending outwardly beyond said extended portion of the plug and being there provided with a head, the other end of the member being operatively engageable with the safety closure; a cup-shaped cap rotatably mounted on said one end of the body; means cooperating with said cap and said extended portion of the plug whereby rotation of the cap effects rotation of the plug, said last-named meanspermitting limited rotation of the cap with respect to ythe plug; means for preventing rotation of said head with respect to the'body; means on said head forming a cam; and a roller Journaled in the side wall of said cap and engageable with said cam when thecap is rotated for so operating said member as to effect movement of the safety closure to open position while the plug is in flow-obstructing condition.

6. In a valve structure. in combination: an elongated body; a plug seated in one end portion kof said body and rotatable on the general axis of the body to normally control iow through said structure, said plug having a portion extending exteriorly of the body at said one end thereof a safety valve closure reclprocable generally along the axis of said plug in the opposite end portion of the body and effective, when seated, to obstruct flow through the structure; means for temporarily maintaining said safety closure in open position; an elongated member sealingly reciprocable in an axial opening through said plug, one end of the member extending outwardly beyond said extended portion of the plug and being there provided with a head, the other 8 end of the member being operatively engageabie with the safety closure; an arm secured to'said extended portion of the plug and projecting radially therefrom; a cup-shaped cap rotatably mounted on said one end of the body and having an opening in its side wall through which said arm projects so that rotation of the cap can effect rotation of the plug, said cap-opening being elongated to permit limited rotation of the cap with respect to the arm and plug: means for preventing rotation of Ysaid head with rep spect to the body; means on said head forming av cam; and a roller Journaled in theside wall of said cap and engageable with said cam when the cap is rotated for so operating said member as to effect movement of the safety closure to `open position while the plug is in flow-obstructing condition. y, WILLIAM A. RAY.

REFERENCES CITED The `following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

